If a business wants to sell its products internationally, it had better do some market research first. This is a lesson that some large American corporations have learned the hard way.
What’s in the name?
Sometimes the problem is the name. When General Motors introduced its Chevy Nova into Latin America, it overlooked the fact that Nova in Spanish means “It doesn’t go”. Sure enough, the Chevy Nova never went anywhere in Latin America.
Translation problems
Sometimes it is the slogan that doesn’t work. No company knows this better than Pepsi-Cola, with its “Come alive with Pepsi!” campaign. The campaign was so successful in the United States , Pepsi translated its slogan literally for its international campaign. As it turned out , the translations weren’t quite right. Pepsi was begging Germans to “Come out of the grave(坟墓)” and telling the Chinese that “Pepsi brings your ancestors(老祖宗) back from the grave.”
A picture’s worth a thousand words
Other times, the problem involves packaging . A picture of a smiling baby has helped sell countless jars of Gerber baby food. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in African countries, the picture on the jar shows what the jar has in it, for many people there can’t read.
Twist of fate
Even the culture and religious factors and pure coincidence can be involved. Thorn McAn shoes have a Thorn McAn “signature” inside. To people in Bangladesh, which is a Muslim country, this signature looked like Arabic script for the word Allah. In that country, feet are considered unclean, and Muslims felt the company was offending God’s name by having people walk on it.
小题1:From the text we learned that _________.A．Chevy Nova was brought in Latin AmericaB．General Motors did the best market research of all companiesC．Pepsi still sold well in China owing to the translation problemsD．the “Come alive with Pepsi” campaign worked well in the US小题2:What was “Gerber’s problem”?A．A translation problemB．Cultural factorC．Religious factorD．The picture on the jar小题3:For what reason were Thorn McAn shoes turned down in Bangladesh?A．They are not designed attractivelyB．Their advertisements are not persuasiveC．A signature looking like the word Allah was in the shoes D．Problem for Thorn McAn was the company’s name小题4:What does the text mainly tell us?A．Lessons from some large corporations. B．How to make use of advertisements C．The importance of market researchD．The importance of packaging